


Missed Opportunities

by graciegrace



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slight Canon Divergence, minor appearances by other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 02:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20202325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graciegrace/pseuds/graciegrace
Summary: Seven chances for a first kiss.





	1. Sappy

**Author's Note:**

> This is really a collection of ficlets with a common theme (opportunities for a first kiss,) each taking place in a separate timeline, and while some of them are set in canon scenes, others take place in the times in-between. I’ve been working on this since before I even finished playing the series, and it’s finally done.
> 
> This is dedicated to my big sister, who while watching me play the series remarked more than once, “I knew they weren’t, but I really thought they were going to kiss.” 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

When the blast throws them all back onto the floor, in a blinding flash of colors and a cascade of falling hearts around them, Sora is the first one to get up. Somewhere in his mind he registers feeling a little sore from the fall, but that doesn't really matter. Because as soon as he opens his eyes, he sees his best friend laying flat on the ground, hair long and silver and with the hint of a black blindfold poking through the back. Sora instantly runs to his side. 

"Riku?" 

The taller boy grunts as he slowly stands, figuring out the situation at hand. He's okay. 

"Riku!" Sora shouts this time, voice full of relief. His friends are getting up around him, marveling at the change; Riku's still taller than him, but not drastically so. He looks young again, _himself_ again, and it's almost hard to believe he's really looking at the person he looked so long and hard for. 

Riku seems confused. Understandably, Sora supposes. 

"Ansem did say anything could happen," Mickey muses behind them, and they all silently stare out at the remains of Kingdom Hearts, crashing down the ground. 

A realization dawns on Sora, and he turns to his best friend. "Riku, you gonna take that off?" 

"Oh." Riku seems surprised it's even there, like he's half-awake after having slept for a long time. Slowly, he takes off the blindfold, and Sora sees Riku's blue-green eyes widen in shock, and he's there, really there, one hundred percent himself. 

"What was that?" Sora asks, but it's Mickey who answers. 

"His eyes couldn't lie," Mickey says solemnly. 

"Lie?" Sora turns teasingly to Riku. "And just who were you trying to fool, huh? Huh?" 

"Myself," he answers quietly, and Sora's a little taken aback by the bluntness. 

"Riku, come on, man, why did you try to do so much on your own?" He steps back to stand in front of their group, Kairi and Mickey and Donald and Goofy all smiling up at Riku with him, and Sora hopes Riku knows he means what he says. "You've got friends- like us!" 

Riku steps forward, a note of teasing in his voice. "Have you forgotten? I'll tell you why. 'Cause I'm not a total sap like you." 

And that's the Riku he knows. Even now, when a battle for their lives is about to begin and he's himself for the first time in who knows how long, he's playfully ragging on Sora. 

It's a relief and a wonder, that Riku is back, and in front of him, and has that little smile on his face, and he's _missed_ this and- 

"Oh, shut up!" And Sora grabs the collar of that stupid organization cloak and yanks it forward to press a hard kiss to his best friend's lips. It's clumsy and their noses are squished and Riku freezes up for a second before his eyes close, but maybe this is the only way he can convey his relief, his _happiness_, at seeing Riku back again. 

And it's messy and unskilled but Riku's here and his lips are softer than Sora would ever guess and he's _here. Riku's here._

Sora pulls back from Riku, who's gaping like a fish in front of him, half-lidded eyes barely registering understanding. There's a noise behind him, and Sora realizes he had forgotten they were being watched. 

Kairi's eyes are wide and she's desperately trying (and failing) not to snicker. "I think you broke him, Sora," she says, attempting to suppress a wide smile at her two best friends, and Sora doesn't even bother looking at the other three because he knows it'll only make him more embarrassed and he's turning back to Riku when there's a noise from above and the group runs over to see a swarm of Heartless descending on the castle. 

Sora turns to his best friend, grabbing his hand without thinking, and Riku's eyes suddenly seem to focus, first on the Heartless, then on Sora. 

"Riku, what do we do?" 

And there's a steely resolve in those aquamarine eyes and he's missed that too, and Riku's hand squeezes his own softly. "We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor." 

And Riku's right, he's always right, he always has a plan and Sora takes a deep breath and nods. 

And maybe, once it's all over, they can talk about that kiss.


	2. Darkness

The sound of waves crashing on the shore is the only noise. 

Riku's breathing a little heavily, hand clutched to his injured side but hoping, praying it doesn't show how much it hurts. He doesn't need Sora to have another thing to worry about, not while they're stuck here, god knows where for who knows how long. 

Riku takes a deep breath, staring into the vast expanse of water before them. "What I said back there, about thinking I was better at stuff than you..." 

Sora makes a soft noise in response, goading him to continue. 

Complete honesty had never been his strongest skill, but here, it didn't really matter. They could be stuck here, forever, with only each other for company. It was time to be honest, and maybe... maybe he needed to get it off his chest anyway. 

"To tell you the truth, Sora, I was jealous of you." 

Sora turns to look at him, more shocked than he probably should be. "What for?" 

Riku stares out at that vast, black sea. "I wished I could live life the way you do. Just following my heart." 

Sora turns back to the sea. "Yeah, well, I've got my share of problems, too." 

"Like what?" Riku asks, both of them still looking out over the water. 

"Like... wanting to be like you," Sora admits, and Riku lets out a tiny chuckle. Everything was always a competition when they were younger, and he generally won. It seemed so dumb and small now, the racing, the teasing. Here, on this massive beach in the middle of nowhere, not even able to stand without Sora's help, it seemed so distant. 

"Well, there is one advantage to being me... something you could never imitate." He's getting dangerous close to complete disclosure. 

"Really? What's that?" 

Riku feels Sora's eyes on him, curious and full of light. They've always been like that, and so has he. 

"Having you for a friend," Riku says, and suddenly it seems a lot less scary to be here, with nothing but the waves and real, honest conversation with his oldest friend.

"Then I guess... I'm okay the way I am. I've got something you could never imitate, too." 

Riku smiles, just slightly, and stares up at the sky. Maybe they should be more scared. He has no idea how bad his own injury is, and even having spent time in the Realm of Darkness, he doesn't know at all where they are. But when he closes his eyes, the gentle breeze and crashing waves feels familiar, non-threatening. 

Especially with Sora beside him, hair ruffled by the breeze. 

They've moved almost imperceptibly closer, legs nearly touching and heads so close Sora can probably feel Riku's long hair on his face. And when Sora turns to face him there's a sort of magnetism drawing him in, and Riku's eyes are half-closed when suddenly something washes up beneath him. 

The moment is over as soon as it started, and Riku picks up the bottle at his feets, pulling out the cork and letting the letter fall into his hands. He unfolds it and starts to read and- 

"Sora?" 

"Huh?" 

"I think it's for you." 

Sora unfurls it, and his eyes narrow just a little as he reads. "Thinking of you, wherever you are..." he says softly, and as it goes on, a light begins to shine softly over the water. 

"Light," Riku says, almost disbelieving. 

"The door to light..." Sora echoes, and turns to Riku. He stands, and offers a hand, and a smile. 

"We'll go together," he says, and to Riku is feels like everything. To stand up, ignoring his injury, ignoring the past, and let the light of his friends surround him. 

Maybe, just this once, everything ends up okay. 

So Riku takes Sora's hand and stands, and their eyes meet with mirrored smiles, almost teary-eyed. Riku looks at the boy he gave up so much for, who went so far looked so hard for him, all at once Sora's hands are around his neck and his own are on Sora's waist and their lips meet. 

It's a soft kiss, something sweet and gentle and years in the making and to Riku it feels like light, like assurances, like finally the promise that everything would be okay. 

Riku pulls back first, slowly, and sees Sora's smile (so warm) focused on him. 

"Together," he repeats, and their hands meet as they walk into the light. 

_Home._


	3. Beachside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after KH2, on the Destiny Islands

The last twelve hours had been the most chaotic of Sora’s life. By the time he and Riku had dropped in on the ocean surrounding the Destiny Islands, battling Xemnas felt like a lifetime before. From then, it’s a harried, jumbled explanation to their parents about their disappearance for the past year and half (lies and memory charms, though both tempting solutions, are both vetoed; the first because of the possibility too many questions and having to leave again someday, and the second out of sheer danger) and Riku’s trip to the hospital (the sound of broken ribs being set isn’t something Sora ever thinks he’ll be able to forget.) 

By the time they get back to their houses, the sun has set long ago, and his parents have fallen soundly asleep in their own room, and by all accounts Sora should be at least tired, but instead he’s just restless. He glances around at the same clothes on the floor, same pictures on the wall. It feels wrong, somehow. 

Making a (probably dumb) decision, Sora pulls on shoes and slides up the window in his room, putting one leg through then the other, and tumbling into the soft grass. He makes his way down the familiar path, short and covered by overgrown shrubbery, just barely illuminated by the moonlight. 

The window is just like it always was. Sora knocks on it four times, softly enough to not wake anyone except the recipient of the message. 

He isn’t surprised when, less than a minute later, he hears the familiar sound of the latch opening, and he jumps through onto the floor. 

Riku’s room is just like it always is; not quite bare but never very lived-in. What little there is is organized well, only a few memorable items standing out. Riku himself sits back down on his bed, clutching his injured side, but not looking like he’s just been woken up. Sora isn’t surprised; how could anyone sleep after all this? 

Sora shifts his weight from foot to foot restlessly. He glances from Riku to the window and back again. “Can we talk?” 

It’s unusual for him to ask. Usually, he knows, he’d just start talking. But it was too cramped in here, too stuffy. He needed to be outside. 

Riku nods. “Yeah,” he says, and pulls on sneakers. They look ridiculous, the pair of them, in pajamas and running shoes with messy hair, but no one will be out to see. 

Sora wordlessly helps Riku get through the window, thankfully large enough to be an easy climb even when injured, and they take the path back to Sora’s house, turning to the edge of the shore behind it where Sora’s father docks his boat. Beside it were three worn-down rowboats, dusty and discolored from disuse, but working just the same. 

It takes the two of them twice as long as usual, probably, to get to the play island. Sora rows both of them in one boat, knowing Riku, the better rower, was in no condition to go that far, and that it was Sora’s own fault they were out this late anyway. Riku doesn’t seem to mind the long ride though, skimming his fingers through the still dark water and occasionally glancing up to point out a familiar constellation to Sora. 

It’s familiar, but not in the tense way his room was. It was the comforting kind of familiarity. 

Waves lap up against the sides of the little boat as it hits the dock, spraying Sora’s pajamas with salty ocean water. He doesn’t mind; if anything, it made him feel more at home. Riku looks a little dazed as Sora helps him stand, wincing significantly but trying to hide it as he steps out of the rowboat. 

“You okay?” Sora asks automatically, and Riku grunts out a yes. It’s probably not totally true, but Sora won’t make Riku talk about it if he doesn’t want to. 

He briefly considers going up to their usual spot (the tree, he considers, is quite possibly as close to Pooh’s Thotful Spot as he has). Then he thinks about the shack, and the stairs, and Riku clutching his ribs miserably. 

“Here is fine,” he says instead, gently lowering his best friend to be sitting on the ground, settling beside him. They’re just in the surf, where their lower legs (and pajamas, unfortunately, but not unfortunately enough to care) are doused in the water. Sora watches Riku close his eyes and breathe slowly. 

“It’s weird to be here... to be home,” he voices, and that’s the thought Sora’s been grappling with since they got back. 

“I was laying in bed, but my room felt so cramped. Which is crazy, obviously, because I’m used to the tiny bunks in the Gummi ship, but I felt like fish in a tank,” Sora says. “I don’t know what I expected, but I think I was waiting for something to feel, I don’t know, magically back to normal again somehow.” 

“It didn’t happen,” Riku says, opening his eyes and meeting Sora’s. They look... not sad, or angry, just kinda distant. Like he feels far away from here. 

“It didn’t.” He backtracks quickly. “I mean, I’m happy to be here and all. It’s good to see our parents and let them know we’re safe, and we’re all back together again, but-“ Sora stops. How can he describe not feeling at home, at home? “It’s not the same. I miss Donald and Goofy, and I guess I’m just used to being in so many different places and being on my guard all the time that sleeping soundly just feels... wrong.” 

Riku snorts. “Like you’ve ever had trouble sleeping soundly.” 

Sora fake-pouts. “Rude!” 

His friend leans forward and looks at him a while, almost seeming to decide on something. His long, silvery hair glows in the bright moonlight, but casts his face in shadow. Sora wonders what it would look like if he could see it. “I know the feeling, though,” he says eventually, slowly. “I keep waiting for something to happen, for something I have to fight. It’s weird to not have the keyblade in my hand. Maybe I’m just itching for a fight.” 

“I don’t think so,” Sora says, even if he can’t really prove that. “But even if you are, it’s not just you.” 

They watch the moon over the water in silence for a few minutes. His room felt trapped, but this? It feels almost too big. It would be unbearably massive if it wasn’t for Riku being there. Just a few hours ago they were like this, somewhere far away. It seems like a million years ago. 

It was less than a day ago, he realizes, that he saw Riku for the first time in over a year. 

“What is it?” Riku asks eventually, knowing the signs of when Sora is lost in thought. 

“Did you really mean that?” he asks. “What you said, earlier- about having me for a friend?” 

Riku leans back, face becoming unobscured by his hair (which looks really soft, Sora thinks, unbidden) and stares at Sora incredulously. He seems to be blushing a little, Sora can tell, because the tips of his ears look red in the moonlight. Riku’s never been the best at being honest with his feelings. 

“Yeah,” he says simply. “You’ve always been there, even when I don’t deserve it. You’re always so kind and forgiving and god knows better than I am.” 

Sora frowns at him, kicking some sand up with his feet absently. “You do.” 

Riku’s eyebrows draw together. “I what?” 

“You do deserve it,” Sora says. “You blame yourself too much for everything. What Ansem-Xehanort? Xemnas?-did wasn’t your fault. And you’ve only ever helped me since.” He pauses for a second, remembering. “Except that one time in the Land of Dragons when you tried to kill me,” he says, punching Riku on the arm playfully. “Not that I didn’t kick your butt.” 

“I was just defending myself from someone who pulled out a sword on me! And you definitely didn’t kick my butt.” Riku says, and Sora scoffs. 

“Who was it that decided to go around in an Organization coat and not see me?” he asks. 

“They ward off darkness-“ Riku starts, trying admirably to defend himself, but Sora doubles over laughing, and soon Riku starts too. 

It’s Sora’s favorite sound, he thinks. Riku’s laugh is like a liquid smile, filling him up to the brim. He could drown in it. 

By the time they stop, Sora’s half-covered in the soft sand and cold water he was rolling in, and he shakes it off in a manner remarkably similar to how he’d seen Pluto do. It sets off another soft peak of laughter from Riku, who shakes errant bits of sand out of his long hair. 

Sora turns to him again, smiling softer and more openly at him this time. “I really mean it, though. You do deserve it. You always have.” 

“Thanks,” Riku says bashfully, and gives Sora one of those smiles, smiles only Riku can give, the ones that are at once shy and familiar and affectionate and framed by his fluffy silver hair. 

And in that instant, he realizes, this place feels like home again. 

Sora unconsciously reaches up and brushes Riku’s hair behind his ear, face warming like an oven but keeping his hand there. He meets Riku’s eyes, their bright green-blue even in the middle of the night, and sees the color creep up on his best friend’s ears again. 

“I’m really glad you’re back,” Sora says. It’s a whisper, almost unheard above the familiar sound of waves lapping up against the shore, against their legs in the sand unfelt. 

“I’m really glad you found me,” Riku admits, smile softer and more real than anything Sora has ever seen. 

And this is it, this is the moment, what Sora’s felt building up in him for months, the realization that he can’t possibly go home without Riku, the wanting and being unable to tell him everything, to share everything with him, and their noses are almost touching- 

-and a great big wave, unnoticed, hits the shore, dousing them both in a terrible icy sheet. Sora splutters and turns and spits out saltwater and sees Riku wince and crinkle his face in disgust. 

He can’t help it when he starts laughing again. 

It starts out with a little giggle, then Riku’s eyes meet his, and it breaks into uncontrollable bouts of laughing, so bad he clutches his stomach and Riku takes his hands and they’re both horribly cold and wet and very ill-prepared for dealing with either problem. 

Sora collapses back into the wet sand and pulls Riku with him, moving his hands up to around his best friend’s neck. The taller boy is grinning like nothing Sora’s ever seen, and it makes Sora smile even wider. 

“I feel like we should’ve seen that coming,” he says, trying to stop his laughter. 

“Or at least not sat so close to the edge,” Riku offers, chuckling. 

Their faces are close again, not quite touching this time but enough that he can see the different flecks of color in Riku’s eyes. Sora blushes despite himself. “Hi.” 

“Hi,” Riku says back, and they’re both freezing cold and soaked to the bone but this is them, and what else could Sora have expected? 

When their lips meet it’s like fireworks are going off in Sora’s heart, and despite the fact that Riku’s just as cold and clammy as he is, he feels warmth spreading through his entire body, from his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes. Riku is his home, and he tastes like the ocean and long days spent outside playing and hands held in Sora’s own and just a little bit like mint. He laces his hands around his best friend’s neck and pulls away just a little bit, and he’s sure he looks ridiculously enamored but Riku’s own half-lidded eyes look just as bad. 

And then he shivers violently and tries desperately not to sneeze in his best friend’s (is that the right word for it now?) mouth. He manages alright, and Riku laughs, slowly pulling them back upright to a sitting position, and if his entire face wasn’t red as his keyblade Sora would think he was totally unfazed. 

“We should probably get back home,” he says, just a little disappointed, but smiling nonetheless. Sora whines, and he laughs again. “It’d be a little hard to explain getting a cold. Or why we’re gone in the middle of the night.” 

Sora heaves an exaggerated sigh, leaning his head onto Riku’s shoulder, glancing up to look at his best friend. “Just a couple more minutes,” he says, and Riku turns to him, with that tiny smile Sora loves, and obliges. 

(And if either of them seems to have gotten sick the next day, they blame it on the long drop into the ocean that afternoon.)


	4. Safe

Riku felt a wash of calm over him as he watched the waves disappear in a flash of light below. It was odd, really, knowing this was the inside of Sora’s heart, seeing Roxas and those two others who seemed vaguely familiar, talking to Ansem... but he was calm. He was asleep, and calm, and drifting... Sora was safe... 

When Riku woke, he took a moment to adjust. Light streaming through the windows. Mickey saying his name above him. He slowly blinked his aquamarine eyes, trying to remember. He was waking up... 

“Sora!” 

Riku sat bolt upright and looked around wildly, only to find Sora standing over- a tea table? He was arguing with Donald-probably about something stupid-and had a plate of cake? in front of him. 

“Hey!” 

And suddenly the other boy turned to him, taking off a ridiculous hat and glasses, which Riku didn’t have time to consider. Sora’s face spread into a wide grin, ocean eyes crinkling at the edges, voice full of wonder when he said, “Riku!” 

And suddenly Riku was knocked off-kilter, enveloped in slightly toned arms, soft brown hair nuzzled into his face and neck. “You’re safe, Riku!” 

When Sora pulled back, he had a look so fond in his eyes Riku was sure he was imagining it. Especially addressed at him. “Wait, haven’t we got this backwards?” he started slowly. “And why are you having a tea party?” 

“You’re safe! Riku!” Sora laughed off the question with another wide smile, arms hastily wrapping around Riku’s neck again. Maybe if he hadn’t been so exhausted he would have noticed Sora’s eyes growing fond, gaze tilted towards his lips- 

But instead Riku was completely caught off-guard. His best friend was kissing the life out of him. _Sora was kissing him._

He wasn’t sure how long it took him to process what was happening, but his arms wrapped around Sora’s waist in response and he felt Sora get slightly closer, smiling against his lips, hands twining in his hair. Something clicked inside him, the feeling that this was right, this is what he’d been missing, and when Sora pulled back, just enough to breathe and look into Riku’s eyes, he’d never seen a more affectionate look. 

For him. The look was for him. Sora was safe and happy and looking at him with his beautiful eyes and Riku almost let himself get drawn back into Sora’s embrace when he heard a throat clearing. 

And suddenly he remembered- _they were in a room full of people._

Riku’s first instinct was to scramble as far away from the situation as possible, but Sora didn’t embarrass as easily, moving only about a foot away from Riku with reddened cheeks, his smaller, slightly calloused hand locking with Riku’s. 

Riku took stock of the looks being given to them: shock from Donald and Goofy, disappointment from Yen Sid, and mercifully something akin to pride in Mickey, which possibly just made him more embarrassed, and _pure amusement_ from Axel. 

“So, you two, huh?”


	5. Congratulatory

They're already sitting together, Sora smiling at Riku in that sincere way he can't quite handle, when the younger boy suddenly remembers. 

"Oh, yeah, did we pass the test?" 

Somehow, Riku thinks, that had slipped his mind entirely. 

Yen Sid gives that wise old smirk of his. "You performed truly admirably, both of you." 

And maybe it's because Yen Sid seems so much like a teacher back home, but they know a long lecture of test results are coming, and who could blame them for knocking over a chair in their excitement? 

Yen Sid clears his throat. "More than anything, I am grateful to have you both back from Xehanort's deception unharmed." He glances over to Axel approvingly. "And I am grateful to Lea, whose spontaneous actions turned the tides." 

He turns back to them, solemnly. "I am also deeply sorry, for failing to perceive the danger, and throwing you headlong into a perilous test. This experience has revealed many hidden truths, and we must gird ourselves for the great clash with darkness that lies before us. I believe we need a new Keyblade Master, one with a new kind of power." 

The Master nods to them both in turn. "Sora and Riku, you both deserve the honor. However, one of you braved the realm of sleep again to unlock the final keyhole and save a friend. Riku, I name you our new true Keyblade Master." 

Two things happen in quick succession: one is Yen Sid saying his name, claiming he has proven himself to be a true Keyblade Master, and the other... 

The other is the very sudden feeling of a warm wetness on his mouth, a smile pressed against his lips. Is he being kissed? He's never been kissed. He doesn't know how to process it but there's soft brown hair pressing into his cheek and calloused hands around his neck and that's _Sora, Sora is kissing him. Why is Sora kissing him?_

Riku is certain he doesn't have the chance to (or even realize he's supposed to) kiss back before it ends, and he stares wide-eyes at his best friend, who's grinning like nothing Riku's ever seen. Maybe if he wasn't so completely and absolutely astounded he would have considered how despite not achieving mastery Sora still looks positively radiant with happiness for him. "Way to go, Riku!" he shouts. "I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors! This is just so awesome!" 

But all he can manage is, "Y-yeah?" Between what Yen Sid had said and what Sora had done he isn't even sure which issue he's addressing. 

He decides one is probably more important than the other. 

"Really? I'm a Keyblade Master?" He instinctively turns to Sora, who grins, nodding, eyes crinkled at the edges with sheer mirth. Riku feels himself being pulled in again, and automatically relaxes into another warm, quick kiss pressed to his lips. 

"Of course you are!" Sora says, and as much as he'd love to drink in this look and this moment forever, at the edge of his peripheral vision he sees five pairs of eyes watching them with various shades of disbelief. Sora follows his line of sight. 

"What?" 

Riku tries to answer, really tries, but his mouth just opens and closes like a fish. 

Only for Sora could this be such a completely natural occurrence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the worst part of writing this was absolutely having to go back and forth between this unfinished draft and a video of the KH3D ending and transcript Yen Sid’s deeply boring speech. I hope it was worth it


	6. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between KH3D and KH2.9, when Sora is about to leave for Olympus (because the numbering system of these games is a disaster)

Riku watches Sora, miraculously unharmed, heart still shining with that powerful light, and smiles. His best friend is okay. After everything, he was okay. 

It was only a shame they had to leave so soon. 

For once, it wasn’t Riku who walked away first. Sora had a job to do, an important task, and he needed to go on this journey for himself. After everything he’d been through, it wasn’t fair for Sora to lose his strength, especially not this late in the game, but Riku supposed life had never been quite fair to Sora. 

(A voice in the back of his head insistently reminded him a lot of that was his fault, and he shoved it aside.) 

It wasn’t quite twilight outside the Yen Sid’s tower when Sora got the orders to leave, but it felt much later. How much of that was because of the week-long nap? Riku wasn’t sure. The two of them were packing up their scarce things into suitcases in their shared room, having wolfed down dinner to prepare for the journey ahead. 

Riku knew this was an important mission, obviously, and they’d just had a good few months together back at the islands, but still... he wished he’d had a little more time with Sora. 

Sora shut his suitcase with a satisfying click and turned to smile at Riku. There was something in his eyes-sadness? tiredness?-but it was too little for Riku to make out. 

“Donald and Goofy are already waiting in the Gummi ship. Walk me out?” 

Like Riku could ever refuse. 

They took the long way down the ever-winding stairs, Sora chatting away as usual. 

“I mean, I’m excited to see Hercules again, because he’s super cool and we’re friends, but I kinda wish I had a couple days to rest, you know? That tea party was about all I’ll be getting for a while,” Sora complained, and Riku let out a little chuckle. It was easy, casual between them, maybe too much for what they’d just been through. Or maybe it was what they needed. “You ready to look for that lost Keyblade master?” 

Riku sighed and gave Sora a half-hearted smile. “As I’ll ever be. I want to help, really, but I honestly don’t relish the idea of going back to the Realm of Darkness for so long.” 

Sora nodded contemplatively, and the two proceeded down the stairs quietly. If only they’d had a few more days. 

Eventually, unfortunately, they arrived at the door. Riku pulled it open for Sora and the two stepped out into the early sunset, stars just barely showing in the sky above the tall pine trees surrounding the tower. At the end of the trail was the Gummi ship, prepped and ready to take the adventurous trio away. 

Sora inhaled deeply and set his case on the step below them, sighing and looking up at Riku with what he now realized was wistfulness. Riku felt it too. 

“Guess I’m off.” 

“Yeah.” 

“I wish we could’ve stayed here a little longer. Or gone someplace else- there’s tons of worlds you’d like.” 

“When this is all over, we can.” 

Sora took a step closer to Riku and laced their fingers together, smiling warmly at their clasped hands. 

“Promise?” he asked quietly. 

“Promise,” Riku said. 

Sora looked up to his best friend and Riku could see the slight red in his cheeks, his blue eyes shining. Their hands were still together, a point of contact that seemed to spread warmth all the way to Riku’s heart. 

“Come back safe,” Riku said, and Sora nodded, gazing at the ground before looking back at him with a silent determination. 

“Promise,” he said, and pulled himself up to his tiptoes so their lips would meet. 

It was a long and sweet kiss, both boys with lips just a little chapped and hands linked tightly as they wished one more time they could have had a little longer together. 

It was alright, though, Riku thought, feeling Sora’s nose pressing gently into his cheek and thumbs rubbing his hands, because suddenly he was awash with clarity and strength and an overwhelming sense of love and peace and he knew they’d see each other soon. 

Sora slowly pulled back and Riku’s eyes fluttered open to see his best friend, still shorter and louder and more boisterous than himself, and he smiled just a little. 

“You be safe, too,” Sora said, letting go on one of Riku’s hands to pick up his suitcase, and squeezing the other. 

“Always,” Riku said, and he let go of Sora’s hand, watching the other boy walk to the ship, turning back to shoot Riku one last beautiful grin before boarding.


	7. Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set right after KH3, but before the end cutscenes!

Sora stands in front of the pack, Keyblade held out in front of him securely. He knew for the others this was a happy occasion, but all he felt was grim resolve. He was going to get Kairi back, whatever it took. 

The portal to wherever she was, or at least what he hoped was the portal, was standing open before him, tendrils of light streaming from it. It had taken most of Sora’s energy to conjure it, and he knew that even with their hearts’ connection it would still take a toll on him to use it. He wasn’t supposed to be using the Power of Waking this way, but it didn’t matter. He had to save her. She deserved at least that much. 

When he turned around, the others were all watching him intently. He could hear the sounds of Terra and Aqua whispering to Ven, but it didn’t really matter what they were talking about. Xion gave him a look of sad understanding from her spot next to Roxas, one hand coming to rest over her heart. Sora took a deep breath, and gave her the best smile he could muster. 

He scanned over them all, his heart feeling a little bit more whole with the encouragement they gave him... until he got to Riku. 

Riku, who was standing by himself off to the side. Who was looking down at the ground, likely trying to hold back tears. 

Riku, who had just lost one best friend, and was probably about to lose the other getting her back. 

Sora jogged over to him without thinking, Keyblade disappearing from his hand as he used it to take Riku’s in his own. Two sets of calloused fingers locked together. 

When their eyes met, there was something there heavy there. He knew that look, of his best friend forcing himself to be brave. To not let it show how broken he felt. 

“I’ll save her,” Sora promised, and Riku nodded. 

“I know,” he said, and Sora knew it was the truth. Riku believed in him, believed he could and would save Kairi, but it come with a cost. 

Everything did. 

“I’ll come back,” Sora said, less confident this time. Could he promise that? If he did, and he couldn’t make it back alright, wouldn’t that just make it worse? 

“I know,” Riku said, swallowing hard. “There’s just... there’s something I need to tell you.” 

Sora knew the wind was whipping sand all over him, but he could barely feel it. “Yeah?” 

“I thought maybe if we ignored it until we could make it through this, after everything was done and everyone was okay, everything would turn out okay.” Riku laughed humorlessly, smiling sadly down at the ground. “But now... I’m not sure this will ever be over.” 

Sora knew what he was talking about. The weight between them, the slight tension- they’d felt it back since they met again in The World That Never Was. It was always there, heavy but unspoken, and now... 

“I don’t want to pressure you or anything,” Riku starts, and Sora feels his resolve dwindling, just the slightest bit. “I just want to tell you because there might not be another chance.” He seemed to steel himself, letting go of Sora’s hands and drawing in a long, shaky breath, letting it out slowly. 

“Sora, I-“ 

He didn’t let Riku finish, resting a hand on his best friend’s cheek, stopping him in his tracks, pulling him into a kiss. Riku’s eyes fluttered closed and his hands found Sora's waist, holding him steady as he leaned ever closer. It was too hard and too uncoordinated and their noses were mashed together but Sora didn’t care. He put all of the affection and history and fear he felt into that one kiss, until tears started brimming in his eyes and he knew it was time to go. 

His hand fell slowly down Riku’s face as he stepped out of the embrace, staring at the ground before looking up to meet Riku’s eyes. They were so familiar, that bright green-blue he’d love forever, and they were as sad as he’d ever seen them. 

“Me too,” Sora said, giving Riku his best broken smile. “It's okay. There’ll be other chances.” 

It wasn’t a promise he knew he could keep, but he needed to say it. He couldn’t let Riku finish that sentence. Not today, when he still had to save Kairi. Not today, when he was about to go somewhere he might never return from. 

Riku nodded, his smile soft and encouraging, and Sora prayed he’d see it again someday. He turned to the others, who were politely trying not to watch, and laughed to himself. 

“I’ve got to bring Kairi back. She needs to be here with us, and she needs to go home,” he said, and they all nodded in understanding. 

Sora stepped forward to the portal, drawing breath into his lungs slowly, in and out. He looked back at them once last time, his gaze lingering on Riku. 

“I’ll come back with her,” he promised, and the world around him dissolved into light.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always greatly appreciated, and I hope you liked it!


End file.
